Tom Brady left several fans and memorabilia collectors very unhappy this week as they claim that his poor and lazy penmanship “defaced” and “ruined” several priceless pieces of sports history after they paid $3,600 for the autograph session. Now, the autographs cannot even be authenticated as Brady’s.
According to a report from USA Today, several memorabilia collectors are furious at the quality of the autographs they received from Tom Brady after paying $3,600 to have the seven-time Super Bowl champion autograph their items.
“It’s the same thing as being in a graveyard or cemetery and knocking over stones or defacing them,” memorabilia collector Glenn Gagnon told USA TODAY. “That’s what Brady did.”
Gagnon said that the items he had Brady sign were “priceless” and in some cases irreplaceable. And now, because of the quality of the signature, they are ruined.
“These pieces were like the holy grail of my collection,” Gagnon said. “… I’ve been collecting for 40 years. I am a diehard collector.”
Gagnon claimed that the signature Brady put on the items looked “something like a four-year-old did” and said he would have preferred Brady to simply refuse to autograph the items rather than scribble on them the way that he did.
“It’s horrible, I’d rather have (Brady) reject the stuff,” he said.
And he certainly wasn’t the only one upset. Several other collectors posted about the experience on Facebook.
Greg Nazareth said that said that the items he brought in for Brady to sign “probably totaled close to six figures in value, and were one of one items in totality” and he was quite unhappy with the results of Brady’s autograph.
“All in all, I would have never paid $3,600 to receive the signature I got today on the items I brought,” Nazareth said in a Facebook post.
Brad Jarrett felt the same way, blaming Brady for the lack of effort.
“Tom let his emotions get the best of him and didn’t hurt the promoters he hurt those of us who were there with items,” Jarrett said in the post. “He could’ve easily refused to sign, he could’ve signed only items that matched what he was contracted to sign. What he didn’t have to do though was put squibbles on everyone’s items and ruin them, that was a choice Tom made and it was wrong and makes him just as accountable as the shady promoters of this event.”
To make matters worse for fans, autograph authenticators have refused to authenticate the signature as genuine even though they originally came from Brady because they don’t match his usual signature.
Obviously, it’s pretty horrible news that Brady did this to fans and collectors, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media.
A local man paid $14k to have Tom Brady sign four pieces of memorabilia at an event in Miami.
This is what the autographs look like. 😳
Brady knew he was signing for people who paid $3k+ per item. Authentication companies have rejected the signature.
His story at 11 on WBZ. pic.twitter.com/Nq2MxgRETN
— David Wade (@davidwade) April 24, 2024
Tom Brady collectors are livid after they got awful autographs.
Turns out there's a lot of blame to go around.
The organizer didn't stick to the contract.
The person marketing autographs never read the contract.https://t.co/GZLbVorbT6
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 22, 2024
This Tom Brady autograph situation is a new one for me. The autograph authenticator has proof they were signed but won’t pass them because they don’t look like other examples. I didn’t realize it worked this. This adds even more layers to the complexity of that market.
— David Peck (@dpeck100) April 23, 2024
This is an absolutely travesty and not the first time an autograph session featuring Tom Brady has turned disastrous for collectors as well as people involved in the event, such as legendary custom card artist, @tysonbeckdesign.
The original tweet blames @Fanatics, but my blame… https://t.co/3Ry3wr0kQ2 pic.twitter.com/IMpjU40czH
— Mario Alejandro (@BeisbolCardBlog) April 21, 2024
People paid $3,600 to get Tom Brady’s autograph and this is what he gave them. I would call the credit card company for a chargeback immediately. https://t.co/43FRoPkZ3r
— Coach Duggs (@CoachDuggs) April 21, 2024
Notable autograph authenticator states he will not authenticate the signed Tom Brady items from the recent signing. pic.twitter.com/zjwLHo4IEX
— Chase Jordan (@goatcollect) April 22, 2024
I get that they lied to Tom but why did he choose to ruin the things instead of only signing photos and his book which is what the contract was for. Now Tom Brady's fans are left fuming because they received scribbled signatures instead of the expected autographs, despite paying… pic.twitter.com/h8ZykS5Ps8
— GotdemCards (@GotdemCards) April 23, 2024
Brady’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment from USA Today.
